JAMALCO North Manchester Land Use and Aesthetics DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT Conrad Douglas & Associates Ltd. 17 CD*PRJ 1023/05 JAMALCO North Manchester Mining EIA Description of the Environment 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 3.1 LAND USE AND GEOLOGY 3.1.1 LAND USE The primary focus of this EIA report centers around the establishment of new bauxite mines, a new loading station, rehabilitation of a railway transport corridor and other related aspects of the industry in the North Manchester area. These establishments are recognised as requiring access to and the use of significant amounts of space, some of which may be in use for residential, commercial, farming or other uses. In this section we utilise combinations of historical data and information with observations, ground-truthing and knowledge of the area. The culmination of our efforts is summarized in Figure 3-1 below. 3.1.1.1 TOPOGRAPHY The topography of Manchester is undulating with escarpments and highlands of which the most prominent are the Carpenters Mountains, Mile Gully Mountains, May Day and Don Figuerero Mountains. 3.1.1.2 AREA AND LAND COVER The parish of Manchester occupies an area of 791.6 sq.km, while the proposed mining area covered under SEPL 530 occupies an area of 74 sq.km. Manchester accommodates a scattering of villages and other urban settlements. Mixed cultivation is confined to the northern regions. Bauxite deposits have impacted on the levels of mixed cultivation. Large areas in the valleys are now used as pasture lands, some areas are in woodland and ruinate providing poor grazing for small herds of cattle and goats. Citrus is cultivated in some areas as are mixed crops such as corn, coffee, Irish potatoes, pimento. Upland areas are cultivated in ackee, breadfruit, mango, cocoa, etc. The Northern area comprises forests and forest reserves, within conservation areas. Conrad Douglas & Associates Ltd. 3-1 CD*PRJ 1023/05 JAMALCO North Manchester Mining EIA Description of the Environment FIGURE 3-1: LAND USE MAP FOR SPL 530 Conrad Douglas & Associates Ltd. 3-2 CD*PRJ 1023/05 JAMALCO North Manchester Mining EIA Description of the Environment 3.1.1.3 LAND CAPABILITY Agricultural land capability in Manchester varies between classes I, II, III and V. The following table identifies the suitability of each class. (Table 3-1 below) 1 FIGURE 3-2: AGRICULTURAL LAND CAPABILITY 1 Jamalco, Environmental Impact Assessment for 2.8 Million Metric Tonne Per Year Efficiency Upgrade At Jamalco, Conrad Douglas and Associates Limited, July 2004 Conrad Douglas & Associates Ltd. 3-3 CD*PRJ 1023/05 JAMALCO North Manchester Mining EIA Description of the Environment 1 TABLE 3-1: AGRICULTURAL LAND CAPABILITY LAND CLASS CAPABILITY PERMEABILITY Suitable for cultivation (tillable) with almost no I Plentiful limitations. Suitable for cultivation with moderate II Plentiful limitation Suitable for cultivation with strong limitations III Very limited or none (See Plate 3-1 below) Not suitable for cultivation, but for planted V Limited forest, tree crops and improved grasses Not suitable for cultivation – should be kept VI Plentiful under natural vegetation. PLATE 3-1: YAM FARMING (LEFT), YAM FARMING AND HOUSES ON BAUXITE LAND 3.1.1.4 DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY The long term land management and development strategy is to allow for available resources to be used in a manner that ensures maximum economic benefits without contravening the general principles of conservation. In this regard there are definitions of growth centres for urbanization and conservation. Land uses include agriculture, national & marine parks, watershed areas, industrial forests, resort centres and bauxite deposits. (Figure 3-3) Conrad Douglas & Associates Ltd. 3-4 CD*PRJ 1023/05 JAMALCO North Manchester Mining EIA Description of the Environment 1 FIGURE 3-3: DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Physical, social and economic growth and development over the last 30 years, have been influenced by the bauxite/alumina industry through Alcoa, Alpart, and other foreign interests largely enhanced by Alcan of Canada (now Windalco). Mandeville, the parish capital, has become a strong financial and commercial location as also an important administrative centre which continues to experience growth. Residential and commercial uses are developed in urban areas designated as villages, district centres, sub-regional centres and regional centres. The latter three are classified in the National Physical Plan 1978-1998. Conrad Douglas & Associates Ltd. 3-5 CD*PRJ 1023/05 JAMALCO North Manchester Mining EIA Description of the Environment In addition, there are scatterings of linear and star shaped villages along roadways and road intersections throughout Manchester, which have not been classified as growth points, though they continue to sprawl, leap frog and become conurbations. 3.1.1.5 INDUSTRIAL Light industrial land use is confined to the hierarchy of rural/urban settlements and linear occupancy along district, sub-arterial and arterial roads. Heavy and special industrial plants include bauxite processing plants at Kirkvine (Windalco) and at Halse Hall (Jamalco). Transportation and access routes, e.g. all classes of roads and railway lines link all urban centres and also penetrate agricultural areas, national parks and conservation areas. Conrad Douglas & Associates Ltd. 3-6 CD*PRJ 1023/05 JAMALCO North Manchester Mining EIA Description of the Environment 1 FIGURE 3-4: AREAS CLASSIFIED AS URBAN 3.1.2 URBAN SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENT TABLE 3-2: Urban Settlement Develpment MANCHESTER – HEIRARCHY OF GROWTH CENTRES District Centres Sub-Regional Centres Regional Centres Mile Gully Christiana Mandeville Williamsfield Spaldings Medina Ballynure Conrad Douglas & Associates Ltd. 3-7 CD*PRJ 1023/05 JAMALCO North Manchester Mining EIA Description of the Environment 3.1.2.1 PARISH COUNCIL/LAND USE ZONING Manchester is covered by a Development Order and subsequently falls under the aegis of the Town and Country Planning Act. Thus any form of development requires an application to the relevant Local Planning Authority (Parish Council) for permission to carry out building, engineering and mining operations or change in the use of land or buildings. There are no specific demarcated zones for land use, but there are general statements of intended uses, supporting requirements and standards. 3.1.3 AESTHETICS There are several areas of outstanding natural beauty, visual and recreational amenity, and therapy. There are also areas which are aesthetically appealing and spiritually inspiring. The views from Spur Tree over the slopes toward the Alligator Pond and Canoe Valley coastal areas are magnificent. In additional there are remarkable 360° scenic views from the North Manchester Highlands A wide variety of microclimates exits throughout the parish, ranging from cool climatic conditions in Northern Manchester to warmer, drier conditions towards the southern coast of the Parish. The areas under study are adequately provided with transportation infrastructure – roads, railway; power transmission; and social infrastructure – hospitals (Mandeville, Spaldings), police stations, post offices, some government offices, schools, etc. 3.1.4 POTENTIAL USES The Parish of Manchester is a designated watershed area. Some areas are designated as national parks and protected areas. Some are likely to be zoned for specific classification of industrial uses and buffer zones to avoid conflict and potential nuisances between industrial and residential users. Most of the potential land uses in Manchester consists of future mining areas, existing mining areas and mined out lands for rehabilitation, forests and grassland. Conrad Douglas & Associates Ltd. 3-8 CD*PRJ 1023/05 JAMALCO North Manchester Mining EIA Description of the Environment The proposed project from JAMALCO includes the establishment of new mines, a new loading station and transportation corridors connecting the mines ultimately to the refinery in Halse Hall, Clarendon. The area to be mined is identified in the National Physical Plan 1978 – 1998 as Region D, the Manchester-Clarendon Region (Figure 3-5). Manchester has been extensively zoned and leased for bauxite mining operations. 1 FIGURE 3-5: PLANNING REGIONS Conrad Douglas & Associates Ltd. 3-9 CD*PRJ 1023/05 JAMALCO North Manchester Mining EIA Description of the Environment 3.2 GEOLOGY 3.2.1 GEOLOGICAL HISTORY 3.2.2 GEOMORPHOLOGY There are three main geomorphologic features in the Manchester area of the Rio Minho basin, Manchester Highlands sub-basin. • The rugged and well dissected Cretaceous volcaniclastics to the north (of Christiana) • The highland areas of Tertiary limestones with different stages of karstic development • The flat Pleistocene-Recent river alluvium along the South Manchester coastline between Round Hill in the east and Old Womans Point in the west 3.2.2.1 LANDFORMS ON THE CRETACEOUS VOLCANICLASTIC AREA. The landforms are rugged and highly dissected. The dissection of most of the Cretaceous Central inlier is related to the Rio Minho River and its Tributaries. The Rio Minho flows to the east through Clarendon to the sea. 3.2.2.2 LANDFORMS OF THE LIMESTONE AREAS The following landforms related to the karst areas can be recognized. 1) Karstlands of high relief with glades not well developed to the west of Mandeville 2) Karstlands of low relief with high cone density i.e. glades not well developed and dolines have little bauxite cover (west of Spur Tree) 3) Karstlands on steep slopes with collapsed features (concentric area from Spur Tree along the